Flickr user eddybelluci labored over this desktop, making it just right for his needs, and perfectly suited to his widescreen display. The end result looks great—feeds, weather, and notifications on the left, time, date, music controls, and quick access to apps on the right, and work in the center. We like.

It's definitely a little busy, but if you have a large, wide display, there's plenty of room for everything. Want the same look for your Windows desktop? Here's how to make it happen:

• The wood-paneled wallpaper from Wallbase
• The Rainmeter system management and configuration tool for Windows
• The Enigma skin for Rainmeter to create the sidebar on the left
• The xClock add-on for Rainmeter to create the large system clock on the right
• The All-in-One Player for Rainmeter to control the music from the desktop
• The Gnometer skin for Rainmeter to create the Wi-Fi, battery, gmail, µTorrent, and Word of the Day status widgets on the right side of the screen
• The Omnimo skin for Rainmeter for the sleep/restart/lock/hibernate buttons in the lower right
• The Google Bar for Rainmeter for the search bar in the upper right
• RocketDock for the application launcher at the bottom of the screen
• The Cupo skin for Rocketdock to customize and center the dock
• The Variations icon packs and Flurry icon sets to replace the default system icons
• The Leaf visual style for Windows 7 to darken Aero a bit and give the glass a smoky, tinted look
• The Red Ribbon Start Orb to replace the Windows Start button

There are a lot of components, but thankfully you can pick and choose among them to create as much or as little of the overall look as you like. Eddybelluci mentioned that he did have to tweak the fonts in most of the plugins to make sure the look was the same across all of them, but aside from that most of it was easy to install. Still need a little help? Check out our guide to setting up Rainmeter or drop by eddybelluci's Flickr page to ask a question, or to just let him know how much you like his desktop!

Mac users can get some (but obviously not all) of this action with GeekTool and our getting started guide to using it. If you're a Linux user, the Conky system utility and some shell themes can get you most, if not all of the way there.

Do you have a gorgeous, productive, informative desktop you'd like to see featured at Lifehacker? Post it to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group, and please include a description of how you made it. You never know, it may be the next featured desktop!

Red Ribbons and Wood Desktop | Flickr

Reader andy_mcname put together this beautiful yet practical home screen using just a few simple tools. Here's how.

This was my first real attempt at making a homescreen that had any form of style to it. I was always a believer of usability before style, so I tried to keep the theme as minimal as possible while still keeping it practical, as I cannot stand having to sift through menu after menu to get where you want to be. The photo was taken by myself overlooking Belfast Lough, and the tools I used were:

• ADWLauncher EX for the five column screen, removal of status bar etc.
• The Minimalist theme for ADW. This gives all the icons as well as the transparent dock.
• Minimalistic Text for the clock and weather widgets
• MagicLocker for the lock screen
• The Typophone theme for MagicLocker

Do you have an awesome, tweaked-into-oblivion home or lock screen of your own that you'd like to share? Go ahead and post it on the #homescreenshowcase forum with a description of how you made it and it may be the next featured home screen.

The Sea at Sunset Home Screen | #homescreenshowcase

I recently jailbroke my iPhone and now that it's done I'm very overwhelmed by Cydia. I've downloaded a couple apps, but I don't understand most of what I'm looking at. The descriptions and explanation in Cydia don't help much, so I'm wondering: can you help me wrap my head all this stuff?

Sincerely,
Jailbroken and Confused

Dear JC,

Don't worry, you're not alone. I still remember the first time I jailbroke a first generation iPhone on iOS 2.0 and confusingly stared at the third-party app installer Cydia for the first time (and of course if you haven't jailbroken yet our guide to doing so is easy to follow). Back then it was a complete mess, and while things have improved over time, it's still confusing to beginners.

To start, you should think of Cydia as an unofficial App Store filled with a ton of apps and features that Apple doesn't allow on an iPhone. Navigating all those features is a bit difficult at first, but thankfully the key to understanding how to use the Cydia store lies in understanding the terminology it uses.

The first and most important step is to understand how the repositories work.

The Basics of Repositories

One of the more confusing parts about Cydia is the repositories (aka Sources). Repositories are essentially different servers that have jailbreak apps located on them. Basically, you can picture a repository as a separate store within Cydia—like an Amazon private seller.

If you look at our list of jailbreak apps you'll notice that we usually include the source where you can find the app we're talking about. For the most part you should be able to get away with the default list of sources, but you may come across a tweak or app that you need to add a new source repository for. To add a new source tap Manage > Sources > Edit > Add and you'll get a URL popup to add a new source. Once you do you can search for the app you're looking for and Cydia will index the new source.

The Difference Between Apps, Tweaks, Widgets, Themes

The other confusing thing about Cydia is that since it houses every type of jailbreak imaginable it's hard to tell the difference between different types of software. For the most part a casual user will run into four main types: apps, tweaks, widgets, and themes. While other minor jailbreak hacks are tucked away in Cydia you likely won't ever need to deal with them. So, let's take a look at the big four.

• Apps: Apps on Cydia will operate the exact same as an app from the iTunes App Store. The only difference is that they're not approved by Apple. This means you'll see apps that do things like network tethering, reskinning of the interface, and provide alternate means to send and receive text messages. For the most part these are self-explanatory and are divided up into categories under the Sections menu much like the App Store.
• Tweaks: Tweaks are a little more confusing. Basically a tweak is a slight enhancement to a pre-existing app usually found in the "Add-On" folders under the Section menu. These tweaks usually don't have an icon on your homescreen. Instead, they're usually configured under the Settings menu on your iPhone. One example of this is Sparrow+. The purpose of the tweak is to enhance the official Sparrow mail app by adding push notifications and changing Sparrow to the default mail client.
• Widgets:Widgets are somewhat new to iOS but after the release of the excellent Dashboard X Cydia is getting flooded with them. Widgets can exist in one of three places: the Notification Center, on the homescreen (with Dashboard X), or on the lock screen. They're essentially shortcut buttons and tools that make information available to you outside an app. You'll usually find these in Cydia in the Add-Ons folders much like the tweaks.
• Themes: If you want to customize your iPhone, themes are how you do it. The two most popular means of doing this are Dreamboard and Winterboard. To use themes you need one of these two apps installed. Themes are found under in the Themes folders on Cydia.

As you're getting used to how the Cydia store works it's usually best to stick with downloads in the above four categories. Most other tools are meant for developers and are best left alone until you know what you're doing.

Deleting and Updating Installed Apps

Now that you're getting the hang of Cydia you're probably downloading a ton of apps and tweaks, right? Chances are you've realized not all of them are what you want, but deleting apps isn't as easy as just holding your finger down on the homescreen (not off the bat anyway).

To delete Cydia apps and tweaks (and anything else) you have to pop back into Cydia. Tap Manage on the bottom bar and then scroll through to find the app you want to delete. Tap Modify and then Remove. If that seems too tedious you can download Cydelete from the BigBoss Repository and delete Cydia-installed apps just like official apps.

Updates in Cydia are handled in a similar way to the App Store. When you open up Cydia you'll see a badge on the Changes menu with any app or tweak updates. Tap the Upgrade button and your apps will update to the newest versions.

Once you play around with Cydia for a while it gets easier to understand. If you keep your repositories with just the default ones you'll typically be safe against any junk or dangerous apps, but always use the same type of caution you would on your computer. More importantly, play around with different tweaks and have a good time with it. If you're not sure of where to start, our picks for the best jailbreak apps for iOS 5 will get you going in the right direction.

Sincerely,
Lifehacker

P.S. Is there anything about the Cydia store that confuses you? Sound off in the comments.

Have a question or suggestion for Ask Lifehacker? Send it to tips+asklh@lifehacker.com.

Title image remixed from discpicture (Shutterstock).

Flickr user l1nfr4nk7 loved The Avengers as much as we did, so he decided to transform his Ubuntu desktop into a reminder of how awesome the movie was. A great wallpaper, some Conky action, an icon theme that fits right in...you could say he assembled quite the functional and good-looking desktop.

Bad jokes aside, if you want the same look for your Ubuntu machine, here's what you'll need to get the job done:

• The Avengers wallpaper from DKNG Studios (direct link)
• The Reloj Conky Gnome-shell theme for the system monitoring bar at the top of the screen and the weather widget below
• The Folderview screenlet for the folder icons at the bottom of the screen
• The Terminal screenlet for terminal access right from the desktop
• The Malys-Black icon theme to replace the system icons on-screen

We're thrilled to see more linux desktops appear over at the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Pool. If you're not sure how to get everything set up just right, head over to l1nfr4nk7's Flickr page to ask him how he configured his desktop, and let him know how much you like his work while you're there!

Windows users looking for a similar setup can get the same effect with Rainmeter and a little Rocketdock or ObjectDock action. Not familiar with how to use Rainmeter? We have a guide that can help. Mac users can approximate much of this with GeekTool, the Mac OS dock, and our guide to setting up GeekTool.

Do you have a gorgeous, productive, informative desktop you'd like to see featured at Lifehacker? Post it to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group, and please include a description of how you made it. You never know, it may be the next featured desktop!

The Avengers Desktop | Flickr